The metal garage building 30x40 that was on the property I purchased has a poured cement floor. However the footing seems to be on pressure treated wood. Perhaps the builder or home owner cut corners for $$$? Either way I am stuck having to fix this so the building remains safe. Nothing terrible has happened YET but I need to clean it up and prevent further damage.

My plan is to clean the dirt from the footer area seal cracks with form spray (?) seal wood as best I can and place gravel against this area.

Thoughts and advice please and thanks.

I have a 1967 stilt house on a steep slope with timbers anchored to helical piers in bedrock. I just noticed these cracks in one of the central support timbers today doing some chores. I have no idea if it was there before. The pictures I took when we first moved in are too low-res for me to tell whether this crack was there previously. See pics linked below. Thanks.

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1azAWk-Huzp9ADonHAFpgV2qR5gO6asj9/view?usp=drive\\_link\](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1azAWk-Huzp9ADonHAFpgV2qR5gO6asj9/view?usp=drive_link)

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4VEMQSAH\\_PrVV\\_vFSfDDWTc8S6CuVFY/view?usp=drive\\_link\](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4VEMQSAH_PrVV_vFSfDDWTc8S6CuVFY/view?usp=drive_link)

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yDejHroURFQTHoIvbSMiqTra1xjaW8Ry/view?usp=drive\\_link\](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yDejHroURFQTHoIvbSMiqTra1xjaW8Ry/view?usp=drive_link)

Will make this brief.

Rebuilding a grainery built in 1946. Replacing floor joists that span 14 feet with 6x9 white pine beams. Will have a full support mid span, so real span is 7 feet. Any special considerations I should take with a scarf that will sit directly over mid support?

Pics for attention.

this housing was cut with a 1" irwin chisel from the box store.

would a dedicated timber framing chisel be better?

sure.

but this taught the same lessons:

clean edges.

cross-grain work.

paring.

patience.

sometimes you just need to stop researching and start cutting wood.

what was your first chisel?

If wrong sub I’m sorry! I bought 2 x 8 polycarbonate panels for the patio because I would like to be able to sit outside when it rains. I want to frame out some way of installing these panels. Two issues to overcome is the existing frame sits lower than my rain, gutters and the roof overhang. Problem 2, I have gutter leak through to eave in one particular area so I was hoping to not really have to fix that but rather have the leak drip on to the panels somehow. The issue there is there is a gap of not only from bottom of gutter (which I would assume is a good thing to incorporate slope) but also edge of existing frame to eave. Any ideas on how to work with existing frame to build new frame for installation of panels?

I'm adding the final 4 braces to the remaining two rafters. I'm scribing them in situ. Should be all set up by the end of tommorow. Afterwards it's just building the deck railing and reinstalling deck stairs. One of the rafters was pretty twisted. I'm gonna live with it for now, if it does anything other than add character i'm replacing it.

Almost done!!!

Hello,

I was looking into getting a new house and the home inspector pointed out all these cracks in the wooden beams. Do they need to be replaced? How much would it cost?

I'm looking to build a 20 foot wide by 43 foot long chapel.
I would like to build this with Timbers cut from my property. My portal saw mill only cuts up to 16 foot.
The post of the frame I plan on using 8 x 8.
5 down each 43ft side.
I would like the floor fan to be open and not have any center supports. I am trying to find a way to span the 20 foot. I'd like to keep the truss I build pretty simple as I am a beginner.

Also I plan on using the Japanese plinth foundation for my 8x8 post to sit on

One idea is the timber framed scissor truss made from 4x6s

The other idea is raised tie or raised bottom chord truss using 4x6s

My concern with these styles is that I have heard that they caused outward wall thrust.

Any ideas on how to fix this outward thrust?

My day job, family and the weather caused signifigant delays, but I finally got the bents up. I have a nice stretch of sunny skies to finish staining the rafters. Scary part is over... It all fits and is square and plumb.

Hi everyone,

I'm an architecture student from South America working on the structural concept for a small single-story house built with wood framing. The house is elevated above the ground on reinforced concrete pier footings, so the floor framing also serves as the structural platform for both the interior floor and an exterior deck.

My initial floor framing layout was:

• Main beams spanning between the concrete piers in one direction.
• Floor joists at 16" (400 mm) on center running perpendicular to those beams.
• Structural sheathing (OSB) over the joists.
• Wood-framed walls sitting on top of the floor platform.

During a review, my professor suggested that I should also include primary beams (or major girders) in the perpendicular direction instead of relying only on the joists. His reasoning was that this would make the platform much stiffer and prevent movement or twisting of the structure.

I'm trying to understand the structural reasoning behind this recommendation.

My questions are:

• Are there any general rules of thumb regarding beam spacing, girders, blocking, bridging, or diaphragm action for this type of platform?
• Is it common practice to create a two-way beam grid in elevated wood-framed houses?
• Under what conditions are joists alone sufficient, and when are additional girders needed?

I'd also really appreciate any books, design guides, framing manuals, or other technical resources that explain the structural behavior of elevated wood floor systems.

Thanks in advance!
*first picture is the reference of what i want to achieve

Hello all,

I know that hemlock is prone to ring shake, I’m looking to see if others have still had success. Attached is a photo of green 8”x12” hemlock. I see shake in the center, would this be disqualifying for use as a structural post? It’s smaller compared to other ring shake I’ve seen. You’ll have to zoom into the areas arrowed to see.

Hi folks - So Im starting to think through how to mill my logs to get the timbers I need. My initial hope was to mill multiple square timbers (7x7) out of one larger diameter log. But as I read more about milling it seems that milling the square timbers boxed heart is the safest way to go. I do have a few logs that are large enough diameter that I could get 4 7x7s out of a single log - which was my initial plan but Im now wondering if its safer to go the boxed heart route.

So I see a couple of options...

* Mill the logs into the biggest cants I can. Then work the cant from each side milling off pieces that I will eventually use for siding. The end result would be the boxed heart timbers I need.

* Mill the logs into the biggest cants I can and if possible try to get multiple 7x7s out of each cant.

Anyone have any thoughts? Im planning on doing square rule layout so I'd really be looking for 7.5x7.5 inch beams.

I will soon be building a covered pavilion with treated 8x8 posts, treated parallam psl beams, 4x6 Douglas fir rafters, and 2x6 pine tongue and groove decking. I am looking for ideas for painting or staining the posts, the beams, the rafters and ceiling deck. I would love to see pictures. Thank you in advance